Pez, from Peg Productions, submitted this logo for critique. When asked to explain the logo, Peg Productions said the following:

We choose the logo because we felt it has quite a clear and simple theme—a peg. This view of a peg is also very striking, as it is often an angle overlooked by people the majority of the time. This shows customers that here at Peg Productions we think outside of the box and see the world in a different way.

Also as the logo is very simple in its fundamental nature it can changed and altered to look very graphically intense, or left very simple—as we do on the website and on our invoices.

Design Principals

When this logo first arrived in my inbox I was honestly perplexed. I couldnt figure out how this graphic was, in some way, a peg. Im familiar with a peg being; a pin of wood or other material driven or fitted into something, as to fasten parts together, to hang things on, to make fast a rope or string on, to stop a hole, or to mark some point. as defined by dictionary.com. After realizing the company was in the UK, I came to the conclusion that there must be another meaning for the word peg in the UK. And sure enough, there is an alternate meaning in the UK, a clothespin (or at least thats what we call it in the States).

After having settled that, I can understand the image a bit better. I can see the clothespin/peg, but the execution isnt the best. If the clothespin/peg were drawn or represented better I would have likely been able to make the connection without doing the research I did. Sometimes, as designers, we get to close to our work and forget that the eventual viewer may not see an image in the same way we do. The shape of the clothespin/peg is far too abstracted to be easily recognized in my opinion. Reworking this illustration to better represent an actual clothespin/peg is highly recommended. Adding the horizontal break to divide the two pieces that make up the clothespin and clarifying the shape of the clipping end (left side of the logo) would both be helpful additions to begin with.

Functionality / Versatility

Recognizability aside, the simplicity of color (or should I say, non-color) makes this mark versatile. It can easily be reversed out of black, as shown, or work in black on a white background.

Does the Logo Work for the Audience?

Peg Productions described their audience as,

We design almost any kind of website for anyone who requires it. However our main customers are small Local Businesses/establishments, for whom we often give face to face consults.

Im curious as to whether the clients of Peg Productions are able to recognize the logo as a clothespin/peg without first being told what it is. I view this as a problem for the business, they may be thinking just a little too far outside the box with this graphic in its current state.

Uniqueness

The mark is unique, so much so, that is hard to recognize at quick glance.

Possible Improvements

So what is the best way to improve the logo? Well I think have made some comments above that can certainly offer some direction. Heres a list of actionable items.

Consider addressing the recognizability of the clothespin/peg graphic. Refine the image to better illustrate the object.

Im not sure if Peg Productions has a set way to use the illustration with text for the company name. If not think about creating a complete version that contains the text for consistency across various media.

Im not sure what is meant, when Peg Productions said, ...it can changed and altered to look very graphically intense, but remember you need to use consistency to build your brand, so be very cautious about altering the look of logo.

Do an informal survey, and ask 10-20 people who dont know your company if they can distinguish the clothespin/peg in your logo. Do this of course, without telling them what the graphic represents.

I hope you have found the above information useful. My intention is not to hurt feelings, but rather to offer constructive feedback and critique. Best of luck, to you Pez.

I appreciate and welcome your comments, and look forward to hearing from you soon. I purposely dont cover every possible improvement that can be made to this logo, so go for it if you think I missed anything. All I ask is that you keep your comments clean and appropriate.

The images & logos presented on this blog are copyrighted by their respective owners. The blog itself is copyright Erik Peterson, 2008-2019 All Rights Reserved.

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7 Comments so far.
Keep 'em Coming.

#1

By penflare

03.23.2009 at 07:13 PM

I wouldn’t have guessed what it was a in a million years unless there was a reference picture below, and even still… its very hard to see.

#2

By ZoeB

03.23.2009 at 07:57 PM

I am from the UK and I find this quite easy to identify as a Peg, even if somewhat abstract. Maybe it’s because their name has the word Peg in it and to me that means clothes peg, looking at their website (http://www.pegproductions.com) you can see how the basic and simple design complements the rest of their website. Maybe they should include all the colors somehow in the logo.

Just my opinion!

#3

By Irene Demetri

03.24.2009 at 11:15 AM

I found it very easy to identify it…even if the word peg didn’t mean anything to me (english is not my first language so I wasnt aware of the word peg).

I think it is a very strong branding image.

#4

By AJ Teachout

03.24.2009 at 12:47 PM

I saw the peg after looking at it for a bit, but was not immediately recognizable. I would suggest adding a dark gray layer to the logo to draw out the metal spring and to divide the top and the bottom part. It may be more easily recognizable with that method. If you want to keep it completely reversed, you might just add a thin line to divide the upper and the bottom wooden parts.

#5

By Andrew J Clark

03.27.2009 at 02:47 AM

I’m from Australia and I recognized it as a peg immediately… so it seems to rely on cultural peripheral information pretty heavily…

I’d rather see something far simpler; a peg from a profile view with the words “peg productions” written on the side. Or have the silhouette of a peg forming a letter from the side.

Anything that can link the peg & the name in such a way that the viewer can put these disparate elements together.

To me, the strength seems to be the name “peg productions” more than it literally being a peg, so maybe the emphasis should be on communicating the name and then linking it to an image of the peg rather than it being an image of a peg, which the viewer then has to link to the name.

Look fwd to seeing what comes next

#6

By Jonny

05.06.2009 at 05:40 PM

A late post - but, I think if you decide to alter the design in any way that you should invert the B’n'W to see if it works either way. I’m sure you will have to place you logo on a white background some day… so make sure it works inverted.

#7

By Roxy

08.09.2009 at 10:15 PM

I totally agree that a side view of the peg would not only be more recognizable, but more iconic: